25-0604wc Transcript

Teacher: Scott Reynolds

(0:04) Okay, we’re in the Truth Project, lesson nine, tour nine. The state, whose law? (0:11) On the second part, last week, Del asked what is politics and found out that politics is concerned (0:20) with ethics and morals. The state is government, politics, and law, and it deals with ethics and (0:29) morals.

He asked the question, then, what is stealing, and can the state steal? And when we (0:37) determined that there is such a thing as theft, that someone can steal something from another, (0:45) that implies ownership, that the original person had ownership of whatever property was stolen. (0:53) And the question of can the state steal, Del brought up the story of Naboth’s Vineyard, (1:00) where King Ahab committed murder and theft to take Naboth’s Vineyard and was punished by God. (1:10) And then also the story of Nebuchadnezzar, where the king ended up eating grass because he put (1:16) himself above God.

So, scripture reveals that God is sovereign over even kings. He’s the king (1:23) of kings, so they are subject. Kings are subject.

The state is subject to God. The design of the (1:33) state, Del diagrammed for us is a God and then the civil authority, or the king, or the state, (1:41) and then the citizens. And he asked another question, why did Israel ask for a king? (1:49) And that was where Samuel and his sons, and Samuel’s sons didn’t walk in the steps of Samuel.

(1:58) They were corrupt. So, the people asked for a king because of the corruption and also because (2:05) they wanted to be like the nations around them. And then we stopped when Del started talking about (2:13) sphere sovereignty, and the spheres that he’s talking about are the social spheres, or the (2:20) social institutions.

If you remember the top of the temple that Del’s building, he had a series (2:28) of six spheres. And those were the social spheres that were built on top of the foundation, which we (2:38) studied in the first half of the Truth Project. And we built up the steps and the pillars and got (2:45) to now where we can start putting the social spheres on top of the pillars.

And those are (2:51) like the family of the social sphere, the institution. When you hear the word sphere, (2:57) think of institution. The state is an institution.

It’s a social sphere. So, that’s what he’s talking (3:05) about when he says sphere sovereignty. So, each sphere is sovereign, has control over itself.

(3:16) And as he was looking at that, he came up with the story of King Uzziah in Second Chronicles, (3:21) chapter 26, where the king entered the temple to burn incense to do a function (3:29) of the priests. You may also remember, Del didn’t mention it, but I’m thinking about it, (3:37) and King Saul was deposed of being king, rejected as king by God. And why was that? Because he (3:48) offered sacrifice.

He usurped his authority of the state into another sphere. And so, same thing (3:58) happened with King Uzziah. When he offered incense, God struck him with leprosy.

So, the state (4:08) is accountable to God. What happens next is scripture reveals that the state as God’s (4:17) delegate armed with the sword to punish evil and condone good, Romans 13, verses 1-6. And like the (4:26) son’s submission to the father, the state is subject to God’s authority.

Kings and magistrates (4:33) rule as representatives, not autonomous powers. When they forget this, as King Uzziah did by (4:42) crossing into the priestly sphere, Second Chronicles, chapter 26, judgment follows. (4:49) Sphere sovereignty is distinct roles for family, church, and state, ensures balance, (4:56) and prevents tyranny.

So yet, history warns of the state’s potential for abuse. Regimes like (5:04) Stalin’s and Mao’s show what happens when rulers deny God’s authority, seeking control over every (5:13) sphere. Packard argues this rise of the state is resurging today with people looking to government (5:22) as savior, supplier, and moral arbiter.

This echoes Israel’s demand for a king to go before us, (5:31) 1 Samuel, chapter 8, rejecting God’s kingship. Those Christians must resist this trend by (5:39) standing firm on biblical truth. We can hold the state accountable, ensuring it operates within (5:47) its God’s ordained limits.

The state is not our savior, God is. As Tackett warns, without a higher (5:57) moral standard, the state’s power can become pathological, leading to oppression. So let us (6:04) draw a line in the sand, proclaiming God’s sovereignty over us.

And with that, we’ll (6:11) start the video. That’s tonight’s lesson.